Marking two decades since Guitar Hero first launched in North America, offering players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”
